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They said to bring a picture
Of a memory, but I fear
That even many pictures
Cannot sum up a career.

For in Mrs. Gleason’s tenure
There were challenges galore,
And every challenge differed
From the ones she’d faced before.

Yes, it would be quite difficult
To gather in one place
Photographs enough to show
The types of things she’s faced.

Reading, writing, ‘rithmetic –
She taught them every day,
But every child was different
As they learned in their own way.

Patiently she guided them
And waited in suspense
Until they gazed at printed page
And words, at last, made sense.

And challenges were not confined
To lessons that she taught.
With challenges, I tell you,
Mrs. Gleason’s job was fraught.

For she faced chaos every day,
Yet rarely seemed confused,
Except, perhaps, that single time
She wore two different shoes.

One was black and one was brown –
There’s nothing odd in that –
If only one were not a pump,
The other one a flat.

At least the consequences
Of that act were fairly few.
No one long remembered that
She wore two different shoes.

Not so that awful, dreadful day
When fate was so unjust
I speak, of course, about the time
The chickens bit the dust.

The children learned a lesson
On that bleak and fateful day,
But just what kind of lesson
I would hesitate to say.

Such episodes leant tension as
She faced her daily grind.
She quickly took up exercise
Each day to help unwind.

Quite faithfully she changed her clothes,
Turned VCR to "play",
And on the floor with Isabel
Obediently lay.

Intentions were quite noble,
They would work off calories,
Except this was an ideal time,
They found, to shoot the breeze.

Passers by would sneak a glance
Inside the unlocked door
And there they found the teachers lay
Conversing on the floor.

Overhead the tape played on
With squats and thrusts and leaps,
But they ignored it and engaged
In conversation deep.

So how can I, one photograph,
Select to show all this?
No matter what its qualities
So much more would be missed.

One thinks of Judy Gleason
And the simple words "she’s kind"
One finds to be the sentiment
That first will leap to mind.

But can a kindly picture show
She’s worked hard every day?
Can hard-working pictures, then,
Her sense of fun convey?

So I will give up every thought
Of photographs and such,
And give to you this sentiment –
We’ll miss you very much!

© 2000, David Willis, Deborah Taylor